It's almost as if the whole "car doesn't suit a driver" is just a bullshit excuse.

You can see I was pretty heavily against this "car is developed around one driver" thing from this thread, but I disagree with this point. Car definitely can be against someone, it can be something some drivers can't drive. It doesn't excuse them, but more says why they aren't fast with it. Max, Lewis or Nando (maybe Chuck too, but he hasn't proved it yet, tho I believe he could be Alonso level, which I think is barely under top 2) could drive wheels off of any car they are thrown at, that's why I think they are above everyone else. But driver preference is real thing and IMO it isn't as clear cut as people make it out to be. Yes, Ricciardo and Vettel needs specific car to be fast, this car not suiting him doesn't make him bad. I guess it kinda does? But they still can be top of the crop if car suits them. Give Vettel something with really stable rear so he can turn in fast and get on throttle early and he will compete with top places. Give Ricciardo car that is stable in corners, he can brake early and kinda flow through corners and he will be close to top too.

Drivers today are something else, pretty much everyone has whole package down. Being fast doesn't cut it anymore. IMO Lando seems to be one of the best drivers to adapt, (no proof yet obv) but he honestly lacks that raw speed that Max showed immediately. If I had to compare Lando to someone, it would be Häkkinen. Late boomer, fairly fast, good at racing others, adapting to any car they are thrown at, but lacks that ridiculous speed some showed immediately. Tho Häkkinen was something else for racing others, defense and overtakes were always close to perfect, which Lando hasn't shown. Räikkönen dropped jaws with his first test for his speed, but honestly did he have much else compared to drivers from today? I think not. He was gentleman on track, ridiculously fast (i'm biased but I think he's most talented driver of all time what comes to speed) and OK on racing others, I don't think he had many masterful defenses, his overtakes were ballsy af, but clean. When Räikkönen had car without front that does whatever you tell it to do, was he that fast? I think not, I would say average. (and I'm maybe even too much of a his fan)

And I understand it, it takes special kind of fucked up mind to be like Max or Nando, where you can smell from miles away how they breathe racing in and breathe results out. Idk wtf Lewis is, he seems to care about everything and still be ridiculously good. Lewis seems to have 2 brains, one for racing and one for other stuff. He doesn't smell like gasoline like Max or Alonso and still at least keeps up, if not overtaking.